Europe Defence News

Poland; Navy modernization program highlights

In order to preserve the capacities of the Polish Navy, the military’s most underinvested service, the Ministry of Defense is pursuing a number of procurements. Local analysts say, however, without accelerated efforts to purchase new vessels and gear, the Navy could soon lose its capability to effectively operate in the Baltic Sea.

On Aug. 10, the ministry said it decided to overhaul two of the three Kobben-class subs the Navy operates, maintaining the combat capacities of the ORP Sokol and ORP Sep, which were scheduled to be decommissioned in 2018 and 2020, respectively.

The ministry said in a statement it “is making intense efforts to acquire new vessels. It is estimated that a decision regarding this issue will be taken this year.”

Another priority program under which the ministry aims to acquire cruise missiles. Since 2015, Warsaw has been in talks with Washington and Paris over a potential deal that would arm three new submarines with 24 naval cruise missiles. The available options include the U.S. Tomahawk missile and France’s Missile de Croisière Naval.